DEIA: Our Continued Promise
07.06.22
By Team IVC
DEIA: Our Continued Promise
Creating a Company Culture of Inclusivity
As InVision’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Team approaches its two-year anniversary, we’re checking in on some of our latest initiatives in support and growth of our DEIA footprint. Our hope is that this inspires individual, team, and community-wide reflection to drive further change. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that the work is never complete. Even as benchmarks are met, we'll continue to dig deeper into our progress. Considering recent news, the need to fight for the rights of those adversely impacted by new laws/policy only increases daily.
Our DEIA Team
Our cross-company task force strives to create an inclusive environment at InVision where people can comfortably show up as their whole selves. Bi-monthly DEIA team meetings are a time to gather and plan new initiatives with a future-forward lens; how can we continue making an impact for our agency, staff, and clients? Towards our community and industry at large? Let’s dive in.
Our Focus on Talent and Recruitment
Our initiatives on attracting, interviewing, and hiring diverse talent remain a top priority. We’ve audited our recruitment approach to address certain barriers and unconscious biases in the hiring process. Our outreach extends to locations that champion historically underrepresented populations at our agency. Removing certain requirements along the hiring process has been in pursuit of reaching those that could be unnecessarily deterred due to their educational history or background. We continue to ask the question, “Where could bias be showing up in this process?” From hiring, to retention, to providing equitable career paths, we’re committed to growing our agency’s diversity from 17 to 30% by 2023.
We’re proud to foster a strong female majority, and its upwards trend in leadership positions (growing from 56 to 60%). We’ve also recently elected a Shadow Board; a group of ambitious young leaders at InVision excited to bring new ideas and perspectives to the table. By embracing these initiatives, we’re able to proactively cultivate solutions steeped in equity and inclusion.
The Employee Experience
InVision’s success is inextricably tied to the employee experience. Our goal is to drive inclusion with purpose while creating a culture of belonging at work. Educational trainings, open discussions, leadership opportunities, and open forums are ongoing ways we look to engage and hear from the voices of InVision. Our annual employee engagement survey consisting of qualitative, quantitative, and open-ended questions can be answered anonymously to encourage candid response. Year over year, the feedback we’ve received has enabled us to review and improve our benchmarks and meet our employees where they are. We’re proud to have seen employee satisfaction increase from 4.1 to 4.4 when participants were asked on a scale of 1-5 how much they felt they belonged at IVC.
As part of our commitment to making DEIA a consistent conversation, we host monthly DEIA “Media Moments” that allow us to gather, consume content, and learn from each other and the chosen media. Group discussion surrounding the topic empowers our team to draw connections and share lived experiences in a safe environment. Juneteenth was last month’s spotlight, offering our team an opportunity to discuss and honor its storied significance through an intersectional lens.
DEIA in Our Work
Not only is DEIA the right thing to do, but it also brings big business impact. Earlier this year, we hosted a webinar with Amy Wood from Salesforce on “Designing Inclusive, Accessible Events” which focused on ways to make events inclusive to all attendees regardless of physical or mental challenges. It garnered incredible response and provided best practices and tangible ways for brands to begin implementing accessibility into their events. Our biggest takeaway: it doesn’t happen overnight - companies must build accessibility into budgets and engage decision-makers early on. Just like inclusion, greater accessibility benefits everyone, not just the underrepresented groups you’re looking to serve.
There are many ways we look to inspire change in partnership with our clients. Importantly, we look to forward inclusivity into their brand experiences, events and marketing programs. Asking questions early and often about the representation and diversity of their event speakers, thought leaders, influencers, vendors, musicians, and more, we’re able to drive important conversations and meaningful change forward.
Giving Back in Our Community
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. coined the term “Beloved Community” in his work. King’s Beloved Community speaks to justice not only for the marginalized but for all - no one is healed until everyone is healed. This philosophy fuels how we show up and support our greater community. We recently produced EMpower’s flagship event as part of our pro bono work where 100% of the event’s proceeds went to empower marginalized youth globally. We also continue to foster our relationship with TOCA (Teens of Color Abroad), that provides students of color with language and learning opportunities. There’s strength in numbers – extending support to non-profits and organizations actively doing the work allows for greater impact.
The Journey Forward
The recent overturning Roe v. Wade marked the day where millions of American women lost a fundamental, constitutional protection. Often seen in cases of inequality and marginalization, the negative impacts of this ruling will extend far beyond women and those who are pregnant. InVision supports a woman’s right to choose. Effective immediately, InVision will provide travel expense reimbursement to any employee, spouse, or dependent who must voyage across state lines to receive care where it is legally available.
Make Change, Not Noise.
Our DEIA journey is far from complete, rather it’s an ongoing practice. It’s the culmination of practices that deepen and develop our impact. Individuals, teams, companies, and communities – all of us who collectively want to make change, must go much deeper. It is more important than ever to stand united, and advocate for, equality and inclusion. InVision is committed to building a diverse team of dedicated, creative people who aspire to deliver impactful solutions that change our communities and our clients’ businesses in meaningful ways. We welcome any feedback - please share your thoughts at info@iv.com.